Have a 2008 BMW 528i with the iDrive and Navigation System.

Recently took the car to the dealership. They told me they'd like to replace the microfilters at $390.00. I told them that I'd rather do it myself. But it don't see a service item for microfilters on the iDrive / services menu to remind me when to replace the filter; although I've noticed the item on other screen displays for this vehicle. How do I get the Microfilter service item to display?

 

They have taken this away on the LCI as it didn't work anyway.
There is no easy way to automatically detect of they need to be replaced. Its now done together with the service.

Trust me you don't want this to appear on your iDrive.

 

$390 for two microfilters?!?!? How does BMW charge that much with a clean conscious.

They can be had for $20 each, and it takes the average person 45 to 50 seconds to replace with one basic hand tool.

BMW Cabin Air Filter (E60 E63 E64) - Economy 64319171858 | FCP Euro

 

Get the two of the Mann cabin filters off from Amazon for $19 each and replace them both yourself in under 2 minutes. Mann makes the filters for BMW so these are OEM at a fraction of the OEM price since the box doesn't say "BMW". If you go with a different brand just make sure they say they include activated charcoal. Most generic filters are simply paper elements.

 

OEM filters (and the MANN ones) also exist without Charcoal. If you want it or not is up to yourself.

 

I was absolutely horrified at the price. I ended up buying the filters from the dealership @ $51.00 ea. (A rip off, I know)--and did the job myself. It didn't take long at all to replace the filters; and it was super easy.


Thanks for the link. I wish I had known about these guys before I bought the filters from the BMW mafia.

 

meh, $51.00 each is a heck of a lot better than $390.00. By the time you factor in shipping for those aftermarket filters, you probably didn't overpay by much, if at all. sometimes the convenience of getting parts right away from the dealer is worth the premium they charge.

I'm glad to see you installed them yourself - now you see what your dealer was trying to charge you $288 for....

 

Wife's car is displaying the same sign " Micro filter" needs replacement so besides changing the two Micro filters charcoal one's, right?


Are there any other air or cabin filters that need changing?


Thanks

 

Charcoal or no charcoal, completely up to you. Both are available online for cheap from various vendors.

There are only two, both located in the same housing under the hood. takes 5 minutes to change out both.

You can reset the iDrive yourself; google it, there are plenty of threads explaining how to do this.